Micaela Villegas

María Micaela Villegas y Hurtado de Mendoza, called La Perricholi ( born September 18, 1748 in Tomayquichua or in Lima, Peru, † May 30, 1819 in Lima) was an actress and as mistress of the Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Juniet one of the most well-known personalities Peru in the 18th century. Her son, Manuel de Amat y Villegas was one of the signatories of the Peruvian Declaration of Independence on 28 July 1821.

Life

La Perricholi was born in modest circumstances as the sixth child of Don José Villegas and Doña Teresa Hurtado de Mendoza. She learned to read and write, was enthusiastic about literature and debuted on stage at the Coliseo de Comedies at the age of 15 years ( 1763). For 14 years she was the official mistress of the Viceroy, to whom she gave birth in 1769 the son of Manuel. Your self-confident appearance at the side of the Viceroy and her impulsive nature made ​​them unpopular among the aristocracy, which she got to feel especially following the dismissal of the Viceroy. The episode, after which they will have their golden body gave a poor priest, shows the spontaneous charitable side of their character. Although she was considered a famous beauty, no portraits of her are known. In 1788 she retired from the stage, but acquired a theater that Real Coliseo de la Comedia, together with Vicente Fermín de Echarri, whom she married in 1795. Their son Manuel tried in vain to compete as the only (however extramarital ) son of the Viceroy after his death in Spain of his inheritance.

The fate of the Perricholi served in 1830 as the basis for Prosper Mérimée comic one-act play Le Carrosse du Saint- Sacrement, which again as a template for the operetta by Jacques Offenbach La Périchole (1868 ) and Jean Renoir's film Le Carrosse d'or (1953 ) with Anna Magnani served in the lead role. In Thornton Wilder's novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey Perricholi plays an essential role.

Wilders film adaptations of the novel, there were 1929, 1944 and 2008.